


something so precious about this

by casdoms (moffwithhishead)



Series: bluebird [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Brief Mentions of Sexual Harassment, Dom/sub Undertones, Grad Student Castiel, Grad Student Dean, Hypothermia, Kinda, M/M, TA dean
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-21
Updated: 2014-10-21
Packaged: 2018-02-22 00:22:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2487587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moffwithhishead/pseuds/casdoms
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>That earns him a half-hearted smack on his arm and Dean outright guffaws at him, “Really?! Baby, those poor kids were asleep the last lecture I sat in on. Hell, I think I dozed off for a few minutes. You complain about how boring it is all the time and you’re really going to - hMPH-” </p><p>He’s cut off by Cas’ mouth on his and it takes Dean about five seconds before he sighs happily into it and moves closer to his boyfriend. </p><p>“Dean,” Cas murmurs against his lips and if he didn’t know any better, he’d think he was annoyed. “Shut the fuck up.” </p><p>He grins against Cas’ lips and pulls him a little closer, “Mmm, I think you should make me.” </p><p>---------------------------------------</p><p>Part two of <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/2166831">this.</a> There's rain, there's caretaker!cas, there's petnames, there's teasing, there's confessions at relatively inappropriate times. It's just like real life except when it isn't.</p>
            </blockquote>





	something so precious about this

**Author's Note:**

> someone asked for a part two on tumblr like 5ever ago. I'm so sorry it took me this long buddy. 
> 
> title taken from hozier's song, "from eden"

Being a grad student is  _exhausting_. 

Dean never has any free time and what little time he does have to himself, is either spent sleeping or studying for his own classes. Sometimes he gets so overwhelmed and stressed with everything that he thinks about packing a duffle bag and just leaving.

Before, when that would happen, he would grab a bottle of liquor from the kitchen and hole up in his bedroom for a day or two until one of his best friends came and dragged him back into the real world kicking and screaming. 

Now though? Now when Dean’s feeling overwhelmed, he throws his toothbrush in his bag before he leaves for the day and as soon as he’s done with his office hours, he heads straight for Cas’ place.

In the span of three hours, Dean has had two of his best students fail a test, escorted three people out of a lecture class because they were having a panic attack and he’d been borderline sexually harassed by his boss, Professor Alastair. It’s a rainy December night in Boston, which means it’s going to be snowing in the very near future, and he hates everything that isn’t Cas, Netflix and a cup of that gross tea his boyfriend likes. 

Dean pulls his hood up from where it’s stuck between his leather jacket and his backpack and grunts a goodbye to the professor, not bothering to wait for a reply. 

It’s only a ten minute walk from his lecture hall to Cas’ frat house but by the time he’s standing on the front porch and knocking on the door mercilessly, he’s visibly shivering. 

Gabriel answers the door with a wide grin that falls as soon as he sees Dean, “Dude, holy shit, what the fuck are you doing out there dressed like  _that_?” He doesn’t give the other boy time to respond before he yanks Dean into the warmth of the house and yells, “Cassie, your boytoy is here! Quick, come naked so you can warm him up!” 

Dean scowls and pushes Gabriel away, mumbling about him being a dick. He’s not sure if he makes any sense from the look that Gabe gives him in return. 

Castiel looks annoyed when he comes stumbling sleepily down the stairs, “Gabe, what the fuck did I say about -” Whatever he was going to say is cut off when he sees Dean standing there in the hallway shivering and dripping wet with rain water. It takes him approximately .004 seconds before he launches himself at Dean and starts pulling off his own sweatshirt to give it to his boyfriend. Dean smiles despite his chattering teeth because Cas is the biggest mother hen he knows, second only to himself. 

“Jesus christ, Dean, how long were you out there?” Castiel scowls at Dean and pulls his backpack off, setting it gently on the floor so he doesn’t hurt Dean’s laptop, “Your lips are fucking  _blue_ , babe.” 

The taller man shivers and lets Cas take his jacket and hoodie off without much complaining as he tries to stutter out an answer, “T-t-t-ten... m-m-m-” 

Cas shushes him with a quick peck on the lips before pulling the sweatshirt over Dean’s head, “We need to warm you up right now.” He pulls Dean into his arms and has a silent conversation with Gabriel for a moment. It would be amusing to Dean if he wasn’t so fucking cold. 

“Okay, baby?” Cas says quietly as he rubs his hands over Dean’s back, “We’re gonna go up to my room and get you a nice warm shower and some dry clothes. Gabe’s gonna make you some hot chocolate, okay? And then we can curl up on the couch and watch whatever you want to - does that sound good? I promise I won’t complain.” 

_**Oh shit.**_  He must be pretty bad if Cas is promising him that. 

He doesn’t really respond though, just nods and rests his face in the crook of Cas’ neck because it’s warm and it smells like something that Dean is quickly coming to relate with  _home_. 

Cas carefully helps Dean upstairs and at one point he gets so nervous about the other boy falling that he just bends down and sweeps Dean up into his arms like he weighs nothing (playing rugby will do that for a guy). 

Dean just wraps his arms around Cas’ neck and tries to stop the full-body shivers he’s experiencing until he feels himself being sat down on the side of a tub while Cas starts the shower. “W-w-w-wanted,” he starts and makes a frustrated noise when his teeth won’t stop chattering. 

“I know, Dean,” Cas promises him quietly with a small smile and kisses his boyfriend’s forehead.

They rest there like that for a minute, both of them with their eyes closed. Cas’ hands are resting on the sides of Dean’s face like two mini furnaces and Dean’s hands have wormed themselves under the other boy’s shirt to try and warm up. 

“Come on,” he hears the rough voice of his boyfriend murmur eventually (it could be a few minutes or a few seconds, Dean has no idea), “Let’s get you warmed up.” 

Cas strips him with the clinical air he has when he’s working in the university’s clinic and Dean smiles a little bit because he still thinks his boyfriend is amazing and is gonna save the world one day. (And okay, maybe he’s a little bit delirious from the potential hypothermia that seems to be setting in if the look of distress on Cas’ face is anything to go by.) 

Suddenly Cas is naked too and  _whoa_ , when did that happen? 

“C’mere baby,” he hears Cas chuckle as he lets himself be pulled gently into the shower and under the water, “Everything is gonna be okay.” 

Dean sighs contently and lets himself fall forward a little bit as the warm water rushes over his back and his limbs, helping restore a little more feeling that he hadn’t realized he’d lost in them, “Mm... mi-i-i-ssed you...” 

Castiel kisses the top of Dean’s head and he can feel the smile on his boyfriend’s face even with all of his hair in the way. “I missed you too...”

They don’t really talk while Cas washes him off, more to get the blood flowing in Dean again than anything else, and by the end of it, Dean looks like he’s thirty seconds away from conking out right there in the shower.

“Not yet baby,” Cas murmurs quietly and turns off the shower finally before helping Dean step out so he doesn’t hurt himself and wrapping him in a big fluffy towel, “Gotta get you dressed first.” 

Dean whines petulantly but lets Cas guide him back to his bedroom and slip him into some new clothes. They’re extra warm and some coherent part of Dean’s brain guesses that Gabriel put them in the drier for him (and wow, okay, he’s probably going to owe Cas  _and_  Gabe something after this). 

He opens his eyes and frowns when everything’s all blurry. He hears some annoying whining coming from someone and if Cas’ quiet laughter is anything to go by, Dean is the one whining like a four year old. 

Cas hands him his glasses from his backpack without comment and when he’s back in focus again, he’s smiling at Dean with an obvious overtone of concern, “Ready to go downstairs?” 

Dean wants to make a case that they should just curl up in Cas’ bed with like, thirty blankets but he’s really tired and talking seems like an excessive amount of work. Plus he already knows by the look on Cas’ face that he’s going to lose any arguments he tries.

So Cas helps him down the stairs again, his arm wrapped tightly around his waist the entire time, and Dean tries not to blush too much when it seems like the entire frat comes out of their rooms to see him being babied. 

“It’s dinner time, dumbass,” Cas mumbles fondly so only Dean can hear him and kisses his temple, “They’re coming out of their rooms to go and get food.” 

He helps Dean sit down on the giant sofa in the common room before going over to a chest next to the TV and pulling out a couple thick blankets. Cas lays them out over the couch and around Dean to create almost a little nest and it would be a little creepy if it wasn’t so endearing. 

By the time Cas is done, Gabriel’s coming back out into the living room with two giant mugs in his hands, “Here you go, Dean-o. Momma’s special hot chocolate with a little something extra added for good measure.” 

Dean eyes both the drink and the other boy warily before taking a sip and promptly starting to hack out a lovely cough, “What- ?!” He splutters for a moment, “What the fuck is in that?!” 

Gabriel’s whole face lights up and he’s beaming when Dean finally looks up from the surprising amount of whiskey he just swallowed, “Something to help warm you up a little more, buck-o. I woulda warned you but, y’know how sensitive Cassie can be about this stuff.” 

Castiel moved so he was sitting on the couch next to Dean, with their bodies pressed up against each other, and he took a sip of his drink before saying anything, “Actually, that’s a good idea, Gabe. Alcohol helps the body think it’s warming up so hopefully it’ll trick Dean’s body into doing just that.” 

The fire’s warm and Gabe puts Star Trek on the TV before sitting in the chair opposite the sofa and watching with them. Cas wraps an arm around Dean’s slightly trembling shoulders and keeps him close the whole time. Aaron and Alfie join them at some point and Dean feels himself relaxing at about the same rate his extremities start regaining full feeling.

All in all, it’s not a bad night. 

But Dean’s tired and he’s still stressed so he lets himself burrow his face in Cas’ neck, snuffling into his skin like a god damn cat, and ignoring the teasing comments from Gabriel. 

Castiel just smiles and rubs Dean’s back, pretending he’s not blushing for both of their sakes, and when he thinks no one is watching he does the same thing to the top of Dean’s head. For two people who aren’t particularly touchy-feely, this is pretty normal behavior for them. 

Hours later when Dean is feeling normal again with only a slight chill, and Cas is half asleep against him, and Shatner and Nimoy has somehow become Quinto and Pine, the others leave with tired yawns. 

It’s a Thursday, which means they both have classes tomorrow and they should really go to bed, but Dean’s too comfortable to care. Being here with Cas is relaxing in a way that Dean didn’t know was possible without some sort of substance to help his brain shut down. It’s peaceful and calming and the closest thing Dean can think of to feeling this happy and this safe with someone is the times when Mary used to read a bed time story to him when he was little. 

He sighs sadly, momentarily letting himself get lost in his own head, and presses a kiss to the top of Cas’ bedhead. He’d give anything for his mom to be able to meet the lovable nerd he’s kinda fallen in love with. 

“Cas,” Dean whispers suddenly and gently shakes his boyfriend’s shoulder, “Baby, wake up.” 

Castiel whines and headbutts Dean’s other hand away from his head as he grumbles, “Nuh uh, ‘m sleepin’...” 

Dean chuckles despite himself and smiles as he whispers, “Cas, do you know what Saturday is?” He’s pretty sure Cas knows exactly what it is, and he’s probably got post-its and countless reminders set up for himself because he’s a nerd and he is pretty adamant about not disappointing Dean. 

“‘s a weekend,” Cas grumbles petulantly but Dean can feel the small smirk against his shoulder.

“Very astute observation Cas,” he whispers back seriously and runs a hand through Cas’ hair, “I can see why your students find your lessons so riveting.” 

That earns him a half-hearted smack on his arm and Dean outright guffaws at him, “Really?! Baby, those poor kids were  _asleep_  the last lecture I sat in on. Hell, I think I dozed off for a few minutes. You complain about how boring it is all the time and you’re really going to - hMPH-” 

He’s cut off by Cas’ mouth on his and it takes Dean about five seconds before he sighs happily into it and moves closer to his boyfriend. 

“Dean,” Cas murmurs against his lips and if he didn’t know any better, he’d think he was annoyed. “Shut the fuck up.” 

He grins against Cas’ lips and pulls him a little closer, “Mmm, I think you should make me.” 

Castiel growls quietly and deepens the kiss before crawling on top of Dean. He helps his boyfriend lay down on the couch without falling off and starts to kiss along his jawline, making his way to the freckles on Dean’s neck, “Such a filthy little thing...” 

Dean moans quietly and lets his eyes flutter closed. He loves it when Cas does this. Since that Halloween party a few weeks ago they’ve tried a lot of things, a very long list of things that included switching and a brief foray into light BDSM kinks, but this? Cas taking control, Dean letting something in his life be out of his hands, Cas’ dirty talking? Yeah, Dean  _really_  loves this.

“Why’d you come over today, Dean?” Cas murmurs quietly as he kisses every freckle on Dean’s neck, tracing the patterns with his tongue in the more sensitive spots, “You didn’t call... what happened?” 

It should probably worry him that it’s only December 6th and Cas already knows how to read him like a fucking book. 

Dean sighs and scoots back on the couch so Cas has more room to rest on top of him, “Shitty day. Stressed as fuck. Wanted to see you.” He brings a hand up and brushes his thumb over Cas’ cheekbones, not really caring that he didn’t ask if it was okay for him to touch today. 

Cas’ eyes soften and he kisses the inside of Dean’s wrist without breaking the eye contact, “Would you like to talk about it?” 

“SOS,” Dean shrugs a little and smiles at the gentle kiss, “Same old shit, different day.” 

Castiel stares him down in a calculating manner and Dean feels like his boyfriend can somehow see deep into his soul and see every transgression he’s ever committed. Like that one time he stuck his gum under his desk in third grade and felt so bad that he snuck in during recess and cleaned it off. 

“Okay,” Cas says eventually, a small nod and a gentle smile on his lips, “We don’t have to talk about it.” 

He leans down and pulls Dean into a gentle kiss as one of his hands comes up to cradle Dean’s cheek. Dean smiles into it, slipping a hand into Cas’ back pocket like this is the most normal thing. Like this is something that he’s done his whole life, lay here with Cas, and not the month and a half that they’ve actually been doing this. 

When they pull apart Cas is smiling sleepily down at him and Dean returns the smile unabashedly before pressing a kiss to his boyfriend’s wrist, “Hey... you know how much I like you, right?” 

Castiel, the asshole, actually  _rolls his eyes_ , and deadpans, “No, I have no idea. I thought you sucking my dick on a regular basis for the last few weeks was a cunning plan to ruin my life. Are you telling me that I’ve misread this whole situation?” 

“We’ve gotta work on brevity with your jokes, baby,” Dean chuckles but he’s still grinning like an idiot. So many people don’t get Cas’ sense of humor but Dean thinks he’s fucking hilarious.

“Brevity is the wit of the soul but my soul is black and therefore has no wit,” he deadpans and nips at Dean’s collarbone in retaliation for him laughing.

“Could’ve fooled me,” Dean murmurs and slips his hand under Cas’ sweatpants, rubbing a thumb gently over his hipbones, “I thought you didn’t have a soul, period.” 

Cas snorts and flops down onto Dean, unceremoniously squishing him under 200lbs of muscle and grinning at the grunt it earns him, “You’re an asshole.” Dean smirks a little and arches an eyebrow up at Cas, “Yeah but I’m  _your_  asshole, remember?” 

“Mmm,” he hums and leans down to pull Dean into a kiss, “I remember.” 

“I love you,” Dean murmurs into the kiss and runs a hand through Cas’ hair, because he can and because he already showed his hand the other night. “Even if you  _are_  a soulless asshole.” 

Castiel moves back and rests his head on Dean’s chest, smiling a little bit against his neck, “I know, Dean.” 

He rubs Cas’ back gently and kisses the top of his head, humming a little, “One day you’re gonna say it back, you know that? No pressure or anything, baby, cause I want you to mean it, but I hate to break it to you - I’m pretty damn charming. I can charm the pants off of a nun.”

Dean feels Cas snort more than he hears it; “Dean, nuns don’t wear pants.” 

“Exactly,” he nods emphatically and a large grin spreads over his face when Cas laughs brightly, hiding his face in Dean’s neck. “You’re an idiot,” Cas mumbles fondly as he finds Dean’s hand and laces their fingers together. 

They fall asleep like that, with Dean’s arm wrapped protectively around his boyfriend and Cas’ face hidden in his neck. In the morning they wake up late and they barely have time to change their clothes before they both have to run out of the frat house and in opposite directions. 

In the middle of his first lecture Dean’s phone goes off and he smiles when he reads the text.

**** I do, you know. C  
For the record. C  
The thing you said last night. C  
I just... I do. C  
Cas. D  
Yes Dean? C  
I love you too. D


End file.
